A lorry overturned in high winds on the M74 near Kirkmuirhill, South Lanarkshire.
Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Engineers have been working to restore rail services after hurricane-force winds caused widespread disruption across Scotland and the north of England on Friday morning. At the height of the storm around 85,000 properties were left without power.

ScotRail was forced to suspend services due to the extreme conditions and routes have remained closed as staff work to clear debris from the lines, leaving commuters stranded or seeking alternative travel arrangements.

A gust of 113mph was recorded at Stornoway on Lewis, the strongest gust since records at that site began in 1970, while a gust of 110mph was recorded at Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands.

A number of routes have reopened with limited services in place including a half-hourly service between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverly. Cross-border routes including the Trans-Penine Express are running at a reduced speed. Train tickets are also being accepted on First Glasgow buses as well as the city’s Subway service.

“Overnight we had extensive high winds across the north of Scotland and the central belt,” he said.

“We’ve had extensive damage to our infrastructure from flying debris, and this morning there are trees, branches, garden furniture and roofs of houses blocking many rail lines.

“We’ve had hundreds of engineers out overnight working to clear lines and ensure that they’re safe for passenger services. We have five special engineering trains out checking that lines are passable, and in the Highlands we have a helicopter out inspecting lines. We’re going to continue with that tonight and into tomorrow.”

Scotland’s road network was also badly disrupted by the wind. The Forth Road Bridge was closed overnight after a van overturned. It has since reopened with speed restrictions in place. The Tay and Erskine bridges also closed overnight but have since reopened to traffic. South of the border, high-sided vehicles were advised to avoid using the Ouse Bridge on the M62 in Yorkshire.

Kirkwall airport, which links the island of Orkney to cities on the Scottish mainland, remains closed. Several ferry sailings have been cancelled this morning and operators have warned of further possible disruption.

In the Highlands around 73,000 homes were left without electricity when high winds and flying debris caused damage to overhead power lines.

In a post on its Twitter account, supplier Scottish and Southern Energy said it had restored power to 24,000 affected customers, but that their efforts were being hampered by continued bad weather.

hydroPD (@hydroPD)

Engineers have been working since first light and have restored power to 24,000 customers as severe weather continues to across Scotland.

In other areas of the country, 12,000 homes supplied by the Scottish Power network lost electricity. A spokesman for the company said power had been restored to around half of the affected households with the remainder expected to be online by the end of the day.

With further wind and rain forecast, the Met Office has issued yellow “be prepared” warnings for much of the country. Gusts of up to 70mph are expected in some areas, and forecasters have warned that much of the country could be affected by snow and ice over the weekend.

“The main focus over the next few days is the very high winds which may cause some spray overtopping around western, northern, Moray and Aberdeenshire coasts. Flood alerts are out for these areas, but we do not expect widespread flooding.

“There are a few bands of rain moving over the country over the weekend and we expect this, combined with snowmelt in some areas, to cause a rise in rivers levels. Again impacts are expected to be limited to low-lying agricultural land and minor roads.

“Further rain is forecast at the beginning of next week, which could cause some flooding issues in areas that are already saturated. We will closely monitor this over the coming days and issue updates if needed. We encourage people to keep an eye on our flood alerts and warnings, which can be accessed via our website at http://floodline.sepa.org.uk/floodupdates/ or through Floodline on 0345 988 1188.”

Across the country, people caught up in the storm posted pictures of damage on social media.

And David Fyfe from Barrhead in East Renfrewshire posted a picture of a large banner bearing the slogan “People Make Glasgow” alongside the M8 motorway, which was destroyed by the wind.

The storm came as the result of a sudden fall in pressure - circumstances similar to the so-called “weather bomb” that hit the country in December. But while severe warnings were issued at the time, the damage caused was not as extensive as feared. Today’s disruption has been far more widespread.